Are Convection Ovens Better?

How do convection ovens work, and what makes them better than a conventional oven? Convection ovens look very similar to a non-convection oven from the outside, but they possess additional functionality which makes them superior to a non-convection oven when cooking a wide variety of dishes. Convection cooking uses a fan to move air through the oven, ensuring even heat distribution and speeding up cooking time by as much as 25 percent.¹ The air movement in a convection oven changes the way foods are cooked in a few different ways, which we'll discuss here.

How Do Convection Ovens Work?

Convection ovens have a fan and an exhaust vent that work in conjunction to cycle air through the baking cavity. This cycling air helps eliminate hot and cold spots by dispersing heat throughout the entire cabinet. The convection oven's exhaust vent jettisons humid, wet air and pulls in fresh, dry air, lowering the overall humidity of the cooking process and creating a crispier, browner (or more caramelized) exterior on your dish. Quicker cooking times that result from the air movement also enable you to achieve that delicious exterior on your roasts before you've cooked all the moisture out of the food's center.

What does a convection oven do for the air around food?

Air movement is the defining feature of a convection oven, and it's this movement that creates a different finish on your food. When cooking in a standard oven, the cold food absorbs heat in an area around it, which creates a pocket of slightly cooler air around the food. The heating elements of the oven slowly overcome this cold bubble of air, of course, which is why your food still cooks, but a convection oven can hasten the process. By creating a current of moving air throughout the cooking cavity, a convection oven moves relatively cold air away from the food and replaces it with relatively hot air. This enables the heat of the oven to reach food faster, resulting in quicker cook times, which can help a commercial restaurant serve customers faster and generate more profit.

The swirling air inside a convection oven also bakes more consistently. With constantly moving air, there's no time for hot or cold spots to form around the food, which means you no longer have to rotate pans in the middle of a bake or worry that one side will brown quicker than the other. This feature improves the quality of your finished product and reduces potential waste by ensuring all your food cooks evenly.

What does a convection oven do to the food itself?

Convection cooking typically results in a crispier, browner crust on meats and baked goods. The drier air in a convection oven caramelizes the exterior better than in a conventional oven, so if you prefer crispy exteriors, convection cooking should be your go-to method. Convection results differ from conventional in the following ways:

• Convection browns and caramelizes exteriors better
• Convection circulates air to eliminate cold and hot spots
• Convection uses drier air, resulting in a crisper crust
• Convection cooks faster, which increases efficiency

Does convection cooking dry out food?

Because convection cooking cycles moist air out of the cooking cavity, chefs rightly worry that food may dry out. The dry air, however, is counterbalanced by the shorter cook times. By cooking quicker, the interior doesn't dry out as much as it would in longer cook times. If you're cooking something that needs to remain moist on the outside, you shouldn't use the convection setting. If you're looking for a finished product that's crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, convection can do that – you'll simply need to play around with the cook time and temperature to see where the best balance of interior and exterior texture occurs.

What is the difference between convection bake and convection roast?

Now that we understand the differences between convection ovens and conventional, it's time to delve into the specific types of convection oven cooking. Many convection ovens offer you the choice of convection bake or convection roast settings. Both of these settings use heating elements and air circulation, but convection roasting uses the broiling element in your oven to regulate temperature as well.² Convection baking doesn't utilize the broiling element in the oven.

What is convection bake? The standard convection setting, with moving air and oven heating elements.

What is convection roast? Convection cooking with the addition of the broiler element kicking on periodically for a more consistent high heat.

Are Convection Ovens Better Than Conventional Ovens for a Restaurant?

The only real downside to a commercial convection oven is the price – because they have more functions, they cost more. Once you have a convection oven, though, it can do everything your conventional oven can do and much more.

Shaving 20 percent or more off the cooking time of common menu items can generate a significant boost in profits. While the change may not seem significant for one meal, or even one night, the time savings add up very quickly. With a convection oven, you can finish cooking sooner, which means your guests get their food sooner, which means you can turn over more tables in the course of a night. On top of that, many dishes turn out better with convection cooking.

Are convection ovens better for home cooks?

When cooking at home, the faster cooking times can be beneficial, but because you're usually only making one meal at a time, it's not as valuable as it would be at a restaurant. The real benefit of a convection oven for a home chef is the better results. If you want bread with a great crust, meat with a crisp, flavorful exterior, or perfectly baked cookies you never have to turn, invest in a convection oven. You can still do all the things you'd normally do without convection, but you'll have the additional functionality when you want it. Again, the only real drawback of a convection oven is the cost – but a convection oven can be a great addition to any kitchen.

Sources

1. What is a Convection Oven?. TheKitchn. Accessed February 2021.
2. Convection Bake vs Convection Roast. Baltimore Sun. Accessed February 2021.